Not knowing there was a hurricane approaching the Gulf Coast, I left perch., Jack, and Valorie for a little jaunt to Florida this past weekend with the hubby and the baby. If you haven't visited the panhandle of Florida, you must! They call this stretch of the Gulf of Mexico "the Emerald Coast" for good reason. The water is electric blue-green and the sand is like bleached sheets.
The owner of this house has an eye for design that is conveyed in every nook and cranny.
pretty nook
lovely cranny
breakfast room overlooking front of the house.
bedroom in the perfect shade of aqua with a metal four poster bed.
area with two perfectly comfy chaises for reading.
The art throughout the house is fantastic and most was purchased locally along the main highway 30A.
This painting of facing faces is by a local artist named Rolland.
Eli was particularly drawn to this print of a seahorse in the kitchen.
I loved this giclee of a wave crashing.
While the house was amazing there was much to do in the out-of-doors (of course until impending hurricane Ida started heading straight for us).
There was a great film festival going on in partnership with the
Telluride Film Festival. Along with the films (all having some theme on food), they served good wine from Frances Ford Coppola's Winery and great local seafood.
It was nice to sit under the pine trees in the cool air. We got some angry looks having a babbling 7 month old in tow, so we didn't stay long.
On Saturday we drove east from Watercolor down Highway 30A and stopped at Alys Beach another beach community. 
Alys Beach's architecture is inspired by the Mediterranean.
There is something so dream-like and wistful about it. I love the simplicity of autumn's bare trees against all of the white walls.
They create such beautiful lines and shadows.
There we stopped and had lunch at
George's. I highly recommend it! I had the most delicious curried chicken salad with dried cranberries on a bed of organic greens.
Across Highway 30A from George's is an amazingly bizarre structure that has been in the making for years. Locals call it the "bird house" (as it's shaped like a bird.) I would love to meet the mastermind behind it. The back which overlooks the ocean is made almost entirely of glass, so I can only imagine the view from the inside.
The bird house is on a gated private street, so my picture taken from the highway doesn't do it's massiveness or design justice.
Sunday we got word that hurricane Ida was heading in our direction. So due to the weather we stayed in for part of the trip - which was actually quite lovely, given our home away from home.
The storm was downgraded to a Category 1 and made landfall just west of us, so we only got heavy wind and rain, which I love experiencing at the beach.
After the storm blew over, the skies cleared to the most radiant blue. (Naturally, it was our day to leave.) We strolled through Watercolor and came upon this beautiful garden.
The garden had a never-ending fountain flowing through the middle of it.
And it was flanked by butterfly and bee loving flowering plants like snapdragons, orange bulbine and geraniums. Eli and I sat and watched this little ecosystem a long while.
We then walked through
Seaside, the beach community directly adjacent to Watercolor.
It is filled with row after row of adorable sea cottages.
I loved this little walkway between the homes and the allee that the oak trees made over it.
This little garden was lovely in its simplicity.
We made a last stop to spend a little time on the beach before hitting the road for home.
Eli was in awe of the seagulls and the ocean.
And I'm in awe of Eli.
It's nice to see some images using some of the lovely high style things from the Bungalow 5 line perch. is now carrying.
Bungalow 5 is known for their lacquer pieces, and we have a few in the shop, and of course we can order anything from their line for you.
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